Offering my help machining part

[Joshua Updyke]

Hey guys. I am new to the tank building and right now I am focusing on designing a custom track system. Since the community has been nice enough to point me in the right direction of information and help me out,  wanted to give back if I could. I am interested in building a tank of my own, but that is quite a big commitment and I have no idea where to start. So I thought I would dip my toes in to the water by offering to help other people. I am a mechanical engineer by trade and build medical robots. I also have access to 3 different machines shops, 3d Cad modeling software, simulation, photo-realistic rendering, circuit board design, and a lot of tools. I will list the several of the tools below that might be useful to you guys. I figure that me helping you guys build some part for your tanks would be a great way for me to learn about the process, and figure out if I want to build a tank of my own. 

So here is my offer. Send me a message with some details about what you need help with. If I can help I will let you know and we can go from there. You would have to supply me with the materials and front any costs of making the parts. I can't really lose money helping you, but I also am not asking to make any money either. You pay for materials, and I will supply the machining equipment and my time for free.

I am an engineer, but I like to make my own parts and push myself to become a better machinist. Here is abridged list of the tools I have access to and know how to use.

Vertical Mill, and Metal lathe. I used the fairly often and machine parts for work a lot. I am no pro, but I can keep pretty good tolerances. 0.010 - 0.015 is not uncommon for quick parts.

CNC Mill - I can also program a cnc mill to make parts too.

Laser cutter - This one is a small trotec 80 watt laser. It can cut plastic and wood, but no metal. It can etch logos as well

Powder coating

Welding - TIG and MIG. Mostly steel but I have done aluminum before

Plasma cutter

Sand Blasting equpiment

All sorts of metal working tools drill press, grinding, band saw, horizontal saw, cold saw, sheet metal rollers and breaks, etc

3d printers

Anodizing equipment

Injection molding machines (but this is not one that is quick and easy to use)

Vacuum forming

Complete wood working shop

CNC embroidery machine,

Vinyl Cutter

As you can see I am quite lucky to have access to all these wonderful tools. Sometimes I just need an excuse to use them. Maybe you can come up with an excuse.

Josh

[Joshua Updyke]

I figured that I would publish answers to questions that people email me here. That way the next person can benefit from it too.

I have access to three of these lasers. They are 80 watt machines.

http://www.troteclaser.com/en-US/Laser-Machines/Mid-Size/Pages/Speedy300.aspx

They can cut many materials, but not all. Acrylics and wood are the best options. The link has a list of lots of materials. 

3/8" thick acrylic is about the thickest I have ever seen done. I have seen some 3/8" wood done too. The max I have ever cut was 1/4" MDF and that turned out really nice.

Lexan (PolyCarbonate) can not be cut with the laser. It makes a toxic gas when cut and honestly does not have clean edge cuts anyway. 

Hope that is helpful.

Josh

[dwco...@comcast.net]

That's very generous, Joshua, thank you.

I'll keep it in mind :)

 

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From: "Joshua Updyke" <jup...@gmail.com>
To: "rctankcombat" <rctank...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Monday, February 9, 2015 11:09:23 AM
Subject: [TANKS] Re: Offering my help machining part

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